Chinese OEM plans sub-$100 Google TV box

A Chinese company called Hisense is working on a new set-top box featuring the search giant's operating system for the living room, and plans to launch it in the US market for less than $100.

It comes on the heels of Vizio's "Co-Star," a competing Google TV box that has been doing notably well in the market since its launch earlier this summer.

"Hisense adds even more innovation to the growing list of Google TV-powered devices available around the world. We're working closely with partners like Hisense to bring services from Google and multiple other providers to your TV with an experience tailored for the living room," said Google TV partner manager Mickey Kim in a statement.

Google TV has had a mixed history. It garnered a lot of attention in 2009 when its partnership with Sony was unveiled, but it was a huge commercial flop because of the high cost of entry and very limited feature set.

The platform effectively relaunched this summer, though, and it is starting to gain steam agin.

Currently, the only devices offering Google TV are the Vizio Co-Star along with high-end TV sets from LG that have the software built-in, but Google is trying hard to expand the reach now that it seems to have secured a decent number of content partnerships.

The Hisense box is expected to make its debut at the German IFA trade show next week.